Sindh Fixes Age Limit for Vice Chancellors of Public Sector Universities

The new law, set by the Sindh government, have specified that the age for vice chancellor candidates should be 62 years. Thanks to the Amendment Act 2025, only people under 62, including those who are senior in the academic or bureaucratic fields, are allowed to apply for the post.

The updated legislation makes some important changes. It is especially notable that it keeps bureaucrats out of VC appointments and makes the age limit a permanent requirement, instead of something only mentioned in the appointment instructions. As a result, all 30 public universities in Sindh will have to follow this rule for all future VC appointments.

If a candidate for the Shirtek move has an experience in judicial work, they can now apply to lead the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Law (SZABUL). The new rules state that judges in the Sindh High Court can apply for the VC position at SZABUL until they are 63 years old, while Supreme Court judges can still do so up to the age of 67. But the age limit of 62 is also used for other applicants—both educationists and bureaucrats—in cases of SZABUL.

The law also allows a sitting VC to be reappointed once for another term after they have finished their first one. In cases where someone starts at 62, they can finish their term until they turn 65 and, if they get reappointed, they can keep working until they are 69.

While the 62-year age limit was part of the school system’s rules, it wasn’t written into actual laws, and sometimes people were allowed to serve up to 65 years of age. The new law gets rid of the uncertainty people had before.

Additionally, the legislation allows Grade 21 staff from offices like PAS, Ex-PCS, PSS, and PMS to go for VC jobs if they have a master’s degree. In contrast, academic applicants need to have a PhD and be a full professor, which shows there are different qualifications needed for the different groups.